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Matcha is one of my favorite teas to bake with because it’s super easy to incorporate into just about any recipe. I had some sakura blossoms lying around from last year’s harvest, so I thought it would be fun to use them to decorate cookies. After some trial and error, I settled on an old-fashioned sugar cookie so that the matcha and sakura could be the stars of the show. It was also a great excuse to try out the gaiwan cookie cutter that I recently purchased from Tea Thoughts.

How to Make Matcha Sakura Sugar Cookies
Don’t waste your highest quality matcha on these matcha sakura sugar cookies! Culinary grade matcha is much less expensive and will still give you plenty of flavor and color. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer to make this recipe, but the dough can also easily be mixed by hand. This mixture tends to be on the wet side, so I recommend heavily flouring all surfaces that will come into contact with it. That includes your hands as well as any cookie cutters and rolling pins.
Matcha Sakura Sugar Cookies
These delicious sugar cookies have the added freshness of matcha green tea. Decorating them with delicate sakura blossoms is icing on the cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of matcha green tea
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar
- Add well-beaten eggs, then milk and vanilla
- Slowly stir in flour, baking powder, and matcha green tea
- Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour
- Soak sakura tea in warm water for 5 minutes
- Drain sakura blossoms and gently lay them out on a paper towel
- Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes. If it is too sticky, slowly incorporate additional flour into the dough until it reaches a good consistency,
- Place cut out shapes onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
- Gently press sakura blossoms onto cookies
- Sprinkle tops with sugar
- Bake at 375℉ for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges appear golden
- Enjoy!
Notes
The amount of matcha green tea can be adjusted to your personal taste.
I was a bit worried that the delicate blossoms would burn in the oven but they held up perfectly. My oven runs a little hot so I pulled them out just before 8 minutes was up. Depending on your oven it could take up to 10 minutes. The key is to look for browning along the edges.
The matcha taste is subtle, adding a freshness to the sugary cookie base. Sakura has a pretty unusual taste on its own. That aspect is toned down here, lending just a hint of umami and light floral notes. My husband Jason is not a green tea fan at all, but he still snuck a few.
If you give this recipe for matcha sakura sugar cookies a try, be sure to tag me @teaformeplease on social media! I’d love to see how yours turn out.

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The teapot cookie mould is so cute!
It’s so hard to find tea-themed cookie cutters! I hope Tea Thoughts comes out with other designs in the future.